Wales fixtures for South Africa confirmed

The Welsh Rugby Union has confirmed fixtures for the national team's summer tour to the home of 2007 Rugby World Cup Champions South Africa.

Wales will play two Tests against the Springboks, the first at Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein, on Saturday June 7th and the second at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, on Saturday June 14th (both kick-offs 15:00 local time).

The series will again contest the Prince William Cup which South Africa claimed after their successful visit to the Millennium Stadium last year.

The tour will be new Coach Warren Gatland's first at the helm and, although he has the upcoming RBS Six Nations campaign at the forefront of his current thinking, he says the trip to South Africa could come at the perfect time.

"The fixtures will certainly come at us thick and fast now, we start our campaign against the top team in the northern hemisphere when we face England at Twickenham on Saturday and my first season with Wales finishes off against the world's best," said Gatland.

"By the summer I hope to have a settled squad and a clear idea of what needs to be done to improve our prospects in both the short and long term.

"South Africa seems a long way off at the moment, but the tour will be on us before we know it and we'll find ourselves in the privileged position of being able to test ourselves against the World Champions at probably the ideal time for our own development."

WRU Group Chief Executive Roger Lewis added: "Warren has said openly he wants Wales to be in the top five of the IRB World Rankings by the time his contract expires in four years time.

"We currently lie in 10th position and it is only by pitting ourselves against the best teams world rugby has to offer that we will be able to achieve our aims.

"The Welsh rugby team will never shy away from the big challenges and there could have been no better tour for us this summer than to visit the home of the World Champions, play in two high intensity Test matches and gain a true measure of our progress."

British & Irish Lions trio Leigh Halfpenny, Liam Williams and Dan Biggar return to the Wales starting line-up for Saturday's crucial NatWest 6 Nations encounter in Dublin against Ireland where Warren Gatland's men will be seeking their second scalp of the campaign.

Wales forward coach Robin McBryde has given Welsh fans a major boost ahead of this weekend's vital NatWest 6 Nations clash by declaring "Everybody has been given the green light," with injured trio Dan Biggar, Taulupe Faletau and Leigh Halfpenny all back in training.

The Wales squad met back up this morning to prepare for the clash against England - WRU TV caught up with Neil Jenkins who said the squad were under no illusions for their next task but a trip to Twickenham doesn't hold any fears for a confident Wales side.

Wales hooker Ken Owens was delighted to get the NatWest 6 Nations off to a flying start with a convincing win against Scotland, where he says the squad were determined to deliver a performance 'from minute one.'

Welsh referee Nigel Owens will create history in the opening round of the NatWest 6 Nations clash at Stade de France where France face Ireland, when he surpasses the previous record of 17 Six Nations matches held by Alain Rolland and Jonathan Kaplan, as WRU TV's Graeme Gillespie discovers

Just two days until the NatWest 6 Nations kicks off. George North takes WRU TV around the players area at Principality Stadium after going through security - which fans will have to do on Saturday. Gates open at 11.15 - don't leave it late!

Next in the series of #TheTeamRoom we listen in to the first leadership group in camp. The players were asked to nominate their peers who they wanted to represent them on the group and we hear what Warren and the players have to say.